Gigi Becali

Becali became a millionaire through an exchange of land with the Romanian Army, dubbed by the Romanian press as suspicious, as the Army did not need the land it received and the land he received in exchange was worth much more.

The deal consisted in Becali giving the Army a 21.5 ha plot in Ștefăneștii de Jos (about 15 km from Bucharest) in exchange for a 20.9 ha plot in Băneasa-Pipera, in Northern Bucharest.[1] As the real estate prices skyrocketed in the capital, he sold the land to some companies which built residential areas.

In 2007, it was revealed that in 1998, when Becali sent the offer to the Romanian Army, he was not the owner of the property in Ștefăneștii de Jos, buying it only after it was clear that the deal would be signed. Also, the Army was not legally allowed to give away the Pipera plot, because it was claimed by former owners.[2]

The affair was investigated in 2006 by the National Anticorruption Directorate (NAD).[3] In July 2007, the NAD started to investigate a transaction between Becali and the daughter of Defence Minister Victor Babiuc, involving land in Pipera which was sold for $300/sqm.[4]

Becali joined the General Shareholders' Council of the Steaua București football team at the end of the 1990s, during the presidency of businessman Viorel Păunescu. Step by step, he tried to eliminate other possible candidates and gather all the club's shares. He obtained 51% of the shares on 6 February 2003 and he bought another 15% toward the end of the year 2003.[5]

On October 17, 2005, his entire fortune was impounded by the National Fiscal Authority (ANAF) for debts totaling US$11,000,000. However, Becali sued the ANAF and won the trial, and subsequently the order of seizure was lifted.[6] He was however able to avoid paying the taxes by transferring the assets of Steaua to a newly formed company, AFC Steaua București, allowing the old association to go bankrupt.[7] As of 2007, Becali detains no official link to the club, as he gradually renounced his shares in favour of his nephews.[8]

In 2005, the papers wrote that he commissioned a painting inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, in which he holds the place of Jesus, while the eleven players and the coach hold the place of the disciples.[9] Becali denied the story, claiming that he received the painting from an admirer.

Becali announced in 2008 that he intends to open his own bank, named "Becali Bank", intended to be used "only by millionaires", with an initial investment of 30 million euro. Nevertheless, the Administration Council of the National Bank of Romania rejected the plan of creation without giving a public reason.[10] Cotidianul notes that the National Bank can reject the creation of a new bank if they suspect that the new bank would not respect the laws or that they won't have solid and prudent investment policies.[11]

In reply to this decision, Becali named Mugur Isărescu, the governor of the National Bank, "a buffoon, a frustrated and envious person" and announced that he intends to sue him.[11]

Becali and the party he is leading are allied with the Democratic Liberal Party in Bucharest's local council. The PD-L leaders announced they don't want a National Liberal vice-mayor, but they would rather support one from Becali's party.[25]

In line with his conservative Orthodox Christian views, Becali has often made inflammatory remarks in the press regarding LGBT people. During his 2004 presidential campaign one of the main themes of his rhetoric was opposition to sexual minorities, which he voiced over and over in interviews and TV appearances.

On May 26, 2006, Becali's personal foundation, the "George Becali Christian Foundation", along with the Romanian Orthodox Church and 22 NGOs, signed a protest letter calling on the government and the courts to ban the Bucharest GayFest 2006 parade, focused that year on the theme of same-sex unions. A few days later, the Bucharest Court of Appeals ruled, however, that the parade was legal, and it was ensured significant police protection. Becali justified his opposition to the pride parade by stating that he "doesn't discriminate against homosexuals" but that, "They abuse their rights. This is proselytism. They can do what they want in their homes, but not on the streets. I call on the Romanian Orthodox Church to defend the Christian faith and morals".[26] Becali declared that he intended to pay for a referendum on same-sex marriage, which he believed 99% of people would vote against. He was also widely criticized in the media for asking, "Why [are there] so many homosexuals? I'll give two or five million dollars [for a referendum], so we can finish off all homosexuals in the country."[27]

The media commentator Dan Tapalagă, in an editorial at the Cotidianul newspaper, criticized the Romanian Orthodox Church for its coalition with Becali, and its opposition to the gay pride parade, which he sarcastically termed as "the sin of the Becalised Church".[28]

In an opinion piece written after Becali's inflammatory declaration, journalist Radu Călin Cristea quoted Cristian Pârvulescu, a Romanian political analyst, who described Becali as a "populist who practices a superficial form of legionarism", referring to the fascist Iron Guard movement which took place in 1930s Romania and whose members were named "legionnaires" (legionari). Cristea also warned that society and the political class should stop regarding Becali as an "inoffensive and amusing clown".[29]

In October 2006, Gigi Becali was awarded the LGBT community's "black ball" for the most homophobic personality in Romania, as part of the 2006 Gay Awards Gala which took place during the Gay Film Nights Festival of Cluj-Napoca.[30]

During Bucharest's annual GayFest in June 2007, Becali seemed to have tempered his homophobic stance. He declared in an interview that "I love them [homosexuals] in the same way that I love all other people. They can marry at the City Hall, every day, 10 of them if they want to. But in church, they don't have a place."[31] When questioned about homosexuality in another interview conducted during the 2007 GayFest, he stated, "They can do what they want... marry... I don't have anything against that". On the question of whether he would accept a gay person in the New Generation Party of which he is president, Becali replied "But why would I have a problem with that? Who knows how many there already are?"[32]

In September 2007, he resumed his homophobic speech, stating that if he becomes president of Romania, he will "get rid of all homosexual and lesbian clubs" and create special neighbourhoods for homosexuals and lesbians, so that "they can stay there and leave us [alone]". He also referred to gays as "sinners" and said that "they should go to the priest if they have problems in their head".[33] The secretary-general of the New Generation Party, Cătălin Dâncu, later appeared to distance himself from Becali's comments, declaring that, "As long as EU principles clearly state that minority rights must be respected, Romania as a member-state must respect them".

In 2010 Becali made public statements that Steaua would never employ a gay footballer. ACCEPT, a Romanian gay rights organisation, complained against Becali and Steaua to Romania's National Council for Combating Discrimination that these statements breached Romania's anti-discrimination and hate speech laws. The Council upheld the complaint against Becali. However, it imposed no fine because of a Romanian law that a fine cannot be imposed more than six months after the discriminatory act. The Council dismissed the complaint against Steaua because Becali is not an official spokesperson of the club. ACCEPT appealed the decision to the Bucharest Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal has referred questions of European Union law to the Court of Justice of the European Union.[34] The Court heard the case on 22 January 2012[35] and delivered its judgment on the 25th of April 2013, in which it found that homophobic statements regarding recruitment of football players made by a person who is perceived by the public as having a leading role in the football club can constitute direct discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is prohibited by the Council Directive 2000/78 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

Some of Becali's remarks have been considered xenophobic; for instance, in May 2008, the National Audiovisual Council fined the OTV channel for allowing Becali's "aggressive and xenophobic speech", which "instigated to hate against the Hungarian minority in Romania" to go on live, without any intervention from Dan Diaconescu, the talk show host.[36] He also believes in a conspiracy of the "Hungarian Freemasons", claiming that it is they who are financing Steaua's adversary, CFR Cluj.[37]

In November 2001, Becali and his bodyguards insulted and physically abused Malonga Parfait, the host of the satirical football TV show Fotbal la Maxx. Becali called Parfait a "monkey" allegedly because the latter is of African origin.[38]

There have been numerous controversies with the violent declarations linked with the Steaua football team, including the use of slurs against the Romani and other minorities by fans and employees of Becali. He also sang in April 2005 a manea which included a racial slur against the Roma.[39]

In 2012, Gigi Becali refused to sign French football player Florent Sinama Pongolle on the basis that he was black, even though Romanian football player Bănel Nicoliță, who played with him at the French club Saint-Etienne, said that the player was very talented.[40]

In February 2002, Becali cursed and threatened Cristian Tudor Popescu, a well-known journalist, in a café, after the latter had written the article "O statuie pentru Puiu Paşcu" ("A Statue for Puiu Paşcu" – a former Minister of Defense in the Social Democratic Party cabinet of Adrian Năstase) in Adevărul about the controversial land swap with the Army and the assault on Malonga Parfait. Becali told Popescu that he should have been shot and that the journalists destroyed Romania.[41]

In 2005, Becali provoked controversy by using extremely vulgar language in an interview, insulting the reporter and the channel he worked for (Antena 1).

In July 2005, in a restaurant, Becali cursed, spat and spilled a glass of wine on Şerban Huidu, the creator of the satirical TV show Cronica Cârcotaşilor. Becali got the nickname "Ioan Botezătorul" (John the Baptist) after this incident.[42]

Following a match of Steaua București in April 2006, his bodyguards used violence against a female reporter of Realitatea TV after Becali asked them to "take her away from that place".[43]

He currently is one of the favorite subjects of the Romanian media, due to his frequent slips of the tongue and inflammatory remarks. For example, in July 2005, a reporter called Becali to ask him some questions related to the Steaua București football club. Becali used this opportunity to unleash a flurry of curses addressed to Antena 1 and Dan Voiculescu. He himself said in the dialogue that "he is not a civilized man".

In 2008, he admitted that when he lost money in a casino, he lost his temper and began throwing chairs toward the windows, breaking them.[44]

On April 2, 2009 George Becali was arrested over illegally holding 3 people against their will, because he suspected they were involved in stealing his car. He was arrested for 29 days, but he got out of jail after 15 days. Four other people, his bodyguards, Cătălin Zmărăndescu, Ştefan Dediu, Nicolae Dumitraşcu and Dumitru Beciual, who were also involved in the incident, were issued arrest warrants as well. Becali announced his candidacy for the European Parliament from his prison cell. Nick Thorpe, the BBC's correspondent to Romania, says that many Romanians see him as a victim of crime rather than a perpetrator, and that sympathy about the case undoubtedly helped Becali win a seat in Brussels for the nationalist Greater Romania Party. Romanian judges initially barred Becali from taking his MEP seat due to ongoing police investigation.[19] Eventually, the Romanian Supreme Court lifted all bans and Becali was allowed to take his Brussels seat. Becali spent three week in jail during the investigation.[20] In February 2013, Becali was given a suspended sentence of 3 years in jail for this case.[45]

In September 2007, Becali sparked controversy when he insulted parliamentarian Lavinia Șandru, stating that she should "go and become a candidate for the ring road, not for the European Parliament", a veiled reference to prostitution.[46] He has also remarked that a woman "has no more value" after she has given birth to a child. This led to a group of twenty-six women reporting Becali to the National Council for Combating Discrimination for contravening Romania's anti-discrimination laws. On October 6, the Council ruled that Becali's comments were discriminatory towards women and "affected the dignity of women", Becali being fined 500 lei.[47]

Becali has also been sued various times, mostly over slander, by the football coach Anghel Iordănescu, politician Radu Berceanu and a Divizia A referee, Cristian Balaj.